The bond of a family
by Psianabel
Summary: Insight of the life of Class Zero outside of war and missions, little things that show their deep bond. (No ships in there, Class Zero friendship/family, oneshot collection, some take place before the events of the game)
1. Cinque and Arecia

Eight was way too fast. Why was he so fast and good in running? No one could keep up with him, even Cater who always could run as fast as Eight had problems today. But with the amount of training they had earlier, it was no wonder, really.

Cinque could only look at Eight's back when he jumped across the finishing line at first, lifting his fist in the air. Then Cater crashed over the line as the second, falling over to the ground out of breath and seemed to mumble something against the dirt on the ground as she pointed with an weak arm to Eight.

But Cinque was still way too far away from being finished with her running training and honestly she didn't know if she even managed this training program today. They did a lot – from evasion to magic, their program today covered a lot, and this running practice was the last part of this intense list they worked through – and Cinque's knees slowly got weaker and weaker with every step she took. Her feet were hurting and the sweat of her forehead ran already – it had probably more energy than she had left.

Though as she looked left and right she could see she wasn't the only one who struggled – there was Sice who was slacking behind, but knowing her she would never admit that she was exhausted. Close in front of her was Seven who got slower with every second. Jack and Ace seemed to drag each other along, close behind them where Nine, and King – and Cinque could hear Nine even had breath left for complaining. The rest she couldn't see, meaning they must be behind her.

That wasn't that bad at all.

The finishing line was in her sight now and she let out a deep exhale as she could see it coming closer and closer, Seven and Sice already leaped over it and it wouldn't be long until Jack and Ace would do it, too.

 _Just only … a bit more … you can do it!_

She closed her eyes as she summoned her last energy she had left in her tiny body, focusing on her legs as she tried to think away the pain inside them – but that was exactly the moment _it happened_. All this focusing didn't go well, in fact it did the exact opposite she was aiming for.

Her left foot didn't move like she expected it to be and got dragged behind her moving leg, and with that her right foot stumbled over it. She yelped with a loud shriek as she sailed through the air – ending up with her face pressed against the ground.

The time around her stopped. Feet padded around her and the noises vanished then - only enormous pain shot through her body from her knee and slowly the realization of what happened hit her.

She tripped and definitely hurt her knee with that.

With a trembling lip she pushed herself up, seeing everyone had passed the finishing line already and looked to her with a worried expression – and yet here she sat with an injured knee, close to her tears because _it didn't stop hurting_. Carefully she brushed over her wound, she got several bruises in her life already, this was actually nothing new. But seeing the little blood spreading on her knee made her worry now – such a little wound that only scrapped her skin a bit shouldn't hurt so much!

Her tears came closer and closer as she inspected the wound more, not really knowing what to do now.

Thank the Crystals help immediately was in sight.

"Come here, darling."

The voice of Mother was a blessing in her ears, instantly soothing away any pain that came from her knee. Cinque looked up at her as she noticed Mother standing in front of her, rubbing over her tear-stained cheeks as Arecia held out a hand for her to take it and Cinque gladly took it. Though Arecia tucked at her a bit harder than she expected, lifting her completely up in her arms.

With a sigh Arecia made sure Cinque was comfortable in her arms, but the little girl still had this trembling lip on her face that made Arecia sad to see. And so she carefully brushed over her hurting knee, this time really soothing away every pain she had – with some kind of healing magic, Cinque assumed. They still were about to learn that, so she was fascinated how fast this all went - promptly her sad expression turned into a smile, the sunny smile Cinque was knowing for. And seeing how Cinque turned her trembling lip in a sunny smile surely made Arecia smile, too.

"There. Better?" Arecia asked her and Cinque nodded enthusiastic, responding with a very cheerful "Thanks, Mother!" before Arecia let her her go again.

Cinque rushed with an immense speed to the others now that her knee didn't hurt anymore, crossing the finishing line with a little jump, and getting immediately greeted by the others who waited for her.

And Arecia only looked to her twelve children standing there, seeing them cheering for each other, because they all managed to absolve the hard training program. She smiled at the sight – they were still so young and little.

But right now she was relieved that everyone was happy and healthy, just like little children should be.


	2. Queen's birthday

Queen hurried back and forth in the room she was in, her arms crossed over her chest and gaze drawn to the white ground. There wasn't much else to do, not in this blank study room where nothing interesting caught her eye – sure there were a few books she could read, but she read them so many times that she probably would get bored by it if she started them now.

The tension in her body wouldn't allow her to focus on reading now anyways.

The reason why she was here alone in this room was that she was locked in here. After she finished her daily studying appointed by Mother she tried to leave to see if anyone was finished with their work and meet up with them to spend the rest of the day, but the door handle didn't move. No matter how many times she tried to push it down to open the door, it didn't move one bit. Not even with force, not with being gentle – it didn't move a centimeter!

Queen was sure she left the door open when she came here, she wasn't the type to lock the door when she was studying – in case someone had an ask about any topic they were learning right now. So why was it locked then? _Who_ locked it while she was focused on her study?

Was this a prank from her beloved siblings? _Again?_

It wasn't the first time she was on the receiving end of one of the jokes of the eleven children she lived with in this facility, more times than once she put them back in their place, only to get another one the next day. Yet they knew when it was enough, the limits were made clear after a few more or less pleasant encounters with her sword, and no one would ever overstep those.

She sighed and came to a halt after she felt like walking for an eternity. This was starting to get ridiculous – it was such a waste of time and not funny anymore. What was the point of locking her in a room anyways? Queen shook her head and eyed the door again. Sure, she could fight herself outside and easily destroy the door, but … Mother wouldn't be very pleased by that.

And so the only thing she could do was to wait for something to happen. But that was _boring_.

Dropping her shoulders Queen bashed her head against the door, closing her eyes and sighed again.

" _Hurry up now!"_

 _"Hey! I can't work that fast – don't touch that! NINE NO."_

 _"Queen is getting impatient, I can feel it."_

 _"I know locking her in this room was a bad idea …"_

 _"Then help me getting this finished instead of complaining!"_

She blinked. She was sure she didn't imagined this conversation. Those were definitely voices from her siblings coming from the other side of that door, hushed whispers that became quiet after this small dialog again.

Knitting her eyebrows together Queen lifted her head and focused on any noise she could pick up – there were a few, low thumps that were probably footsteps against the hard floor, giggling that sounded like it was coming from Deuce or Cinque, and voices she couldn't exactly point out who it belonged to. But from the sound of it many people were shuffling behind the door – and from the words she picked up they definitely didn't forget about her.

A sigh of relief left her when she slapped her forehead. Honestly, what did she even expect from them, of course they would play some sort of prank on her. And they seemed to be in a hurry with whatever they prepared behind closed doors – hopefully not that long anymore, because Queen's patience was running low.

She leaned herself against the door frame with crossed arms, hitting the frame with the back of her head. Waiting was inevitable, unfortunately.

" _Are you ready now?"_

 _"Come on, let's go."_

 _"Ohh I can't wait!"_

Queen only opened one eye as she caught the close whispering after a few minutes of doing nothing, the creaking of the floor getting louder with each thump she heard. Slowly she tilted her head to the door's direction and saw how the door handle moved.

 _Finally_.

"Queenie!" Cinque cried out the moment the door swung open and the girl got in her sight. And before Queen knew it the girl latched on her in a big hug. "I hope the waiting wasn't so bad."

"What is even going on-"

"Oh don't worry, Queen. We'll show you." Deuce followed, patting Cinque on the back to let her know that hugging people out of nowhere wasn't the best idea in the world. Queen could only stare at the two girls who had a bright grin on their faces, raising an eyebrow as Deuce pulled out a piece of black fabric and held it up. "Are you ready?"

"... Ready for what?" Queen blinked before Deuce stepped behind her and put the fabric in front of her glasses, carefully of course, because she didn't want to break them. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words left her as Deuce knotted it together at the back of her head while Cinque waved in front of her and gave her thumbs up as Queen didn't react on that.

"Your surprise of course!"

"My … surprise?"

"Yes, now come on!"

Gently Deuce pushed her forward and Queen stumbled before she got into a decent walking speed, holding out her arms to get at least some sort of feeling in this pitch black sight. Though Cinque grabbed one of her hands to give her more safety, giggling as they continued walking to their destined point.

"I would really appreciate if you two would finally tell me-"

"Here we are!"

Before Queen could finish her sentence the two girls stopped, maneuvering her in the best position as possible. She might not be able to see what was going on now, but a sweet scent caught her nose, unremarkable and it definitely wasn't there before.

"Okay on three!" Cinque called out, "three, two, one …. now!"

At the last word Deuce pulled the black fabric away from Queen's eyes, revealing the sight in front of her. She might have needed to adjust her eyes first before she could truly take everything in, yet even at the first glance she almost gasped at what she already saw.

"Happy birthday, Queen!"

In an union all of her eleven siblings called out to her and Deuce and Cinque pushed her forward to the table they all were standing around, hiding the sight of what was placed on there.

"You …. You still remember." Queen stared at them in awe. It had been years since she got anything birthday related, so long that she thought no one would even remember that day.

"Well, of course. We would never forget, yo."

Sice knocked Nine on the back of his head. "Nine that's a lie. If Mother hadn't told you, you wouldn't know."

"H-Hey!"

"We felt like we should do something this year." Cater crossed her arms, "After all, you've been helping us with studying all this time."

"Yeah and that's why we wanted to repay you somehow."

"It's not much, but it's the least we could do."

With a final nudge Queen got taken in in their round. Sice and Nine, who stood right in front of the table, made room for Queen to get access to the table and let her see the present they all prepared together.

Queen's eyes widened at the sight. There was a giant cake standing on the table, colorful and decorated with all sorts of chocolate toppings and sweets she couldn't even point out at once. Strawberries and cherries were there, too, surrounded by whipped cream and fruit sauces. It looked messy with all these strange combinations at once, but Queen smiled.

"We, uh. … Our first try didn't go well, so we had to start everything over."

"The reason why it took us so long. Sorry about that."

"... No big deal." Queen still had her eyes locked on the cake. "You did all this alone?"

"Yes! Well, Mother helped us a bit at the beginning, but … everyone did their small part."

"I did the cherries!" Cinque lifted her fist in the air. "And Deuski helped me with it."

"That's right. But in the end Sice is responsible for the whole cake, because she supervised everyone."

All eyes were on Sice now who straightened her back at the sudden attention she got, her face getting a shade of red as silence occurred. She scratched her head and turned her gaze away from everyone, hoping no one would notice her blush.

"Uh … yeah."

But everyone broke out in a chuckle at the awkward silence, Seven patting on Sice's back to let her look up again.

"Shall we eat then?" Queen smiled in the round, getting nods directed to her in agreement. Staring at that cake definitely did things to her stomach and she couldn't _wait_ to taste it already.

Everyone took a seat at the table, waiting for Queen to cut the cake to start the feast. And boy, that cake was great.


	3. Seven and Rem

Implied Rem/Machina

* * *

It was starting to get dark when the rain slowly got noticeable, spraying over the brown grayish leaves of the lone forest in the land that was once called Lorica. They held most of the raindrops away from the cadets who sought shelter in this abandoned area, yet the rain was getting more intense now as the time went on.

Seven held a hand out as she looked up to the crown of the trees, immediately turning her gaze to the ground again and rubbing her hand over her sleeve as the water hit her. She turned around to the group who sat around the camp fire to soak up some warmth at this chilly weather, seeing how they had the same reaction as her.

A low grumbling came from all of them as they rubbed over their hair and clothes, standing up then before most of them made their way right to the wooden house that was more broken and rotten than anything else. But it was the only safe spot they had, they had no choice, and it was way better than to get drenched in the rain.

Deuce waved to Seven after everyone vanished inside the shag, calling out to her as she made no move in following anytime soon.

"Don't you want to come with us?"

Seven returned the wave and set her gaze to the three people in the distance who were still outside with her. There were Sice and King at the end of the glade on night watch to alarm the rest in case Milites caught up to them – and there was Rem who didn't make any move in the quite cold rain, having her focus in the distance where Machina vanished earlier.

Ah. Machina.

Seven gestured to Deuce that she would follow later, making her way to the lone shivering girl who was left in the rain.

"Rem?" She called out as she approached her, "Don't you want to come with us? It's getting cold."

"Oh, Seven." Her gaze that was drawn to the distance met Seven's as the girl stood suddenly in front of her, her concerned eyes unavoidable. She put on her usual smile and shook her head. "I'll be fine, don't worry."

With a wave of her hand she summoned a little flame in her hand, keeping it close to her body to soak up this little warmth it radiated. "See?"

Her voice was shaken and Seven didn't miss the little goosebumps on her skin that was open to the chilly air.

The moment Rem averted her eyes from her they lingered in the distance again, deep in the dark forest where Sice and King had their eyes on, too. Seven could only tilt her head at the rejected invitation. She couldn't force her to come with her and if she rather stayed here in the cold rain with her little flame, then it was her decision where she had to face the consequences.

Nodding Seven let her, making her leave to the shag where the rest of them was.

Yet an uneasiness lingered.

Even as she took one last look at her on her way, Rem didn't make any move, not even when a cold breeze rushed through the glade and let even Seven twitch a bit from the cold.

She stood like this since Machina left with a boiling rage inside him and vanished in the dark forest without a trace, her eyes never leaving the direction to where he went.

Seven understood though, they were close and best friends, hung out together and shared laughs since they were children. Machina told them how he wanted to protect Rem forever, yet knowing that she was strong enough to do it on her own, but refusing to acknowledge it.

Or maybe Rem wasn't as good with hiding her illness as she thought so, neither Machina nor Seven didn't miss the fact that she was trying to hold in her coughs, saying how it isn't as bad as they thought it is.

There were times where Seven woke up in the middle of the night in Akademeia, hearing the faint sounds of her coughing through the walls of the dorm, torn between looking after her or just slide it – like always, because never had Rem said anything about her illness. It was like this since Seven knew her. It was a big lie Rem told them, not even trying to agree with the concern Machina had.

She must have her reasons, Seven thought as she heard her coughing the moment she reached the wooden house, turning her head again to the girl. She sighed at the sight.

The shivering of her didn't stop even with the fire magic in her hand and it tucked on Seven's heart, the concern was written all over her face as she watched Rem. The girl was teetering from one foot to another now, an attempt to keep her somewhat warm, too, but Seven could only take a deep breath at the shivering and coughing mess that Rem was.

There was no way she could leave her like this, her instinct clearly told her to stay and watch her, in case something happened to her.

An instinct Seven had since she could remember, always being their for everyone in case they needed a shoulder to lean on or someone to talk to. It was one of the things she adapted when she got under Arecia's supervision as the first child and watched everyone arriving after her – after a while she earned the title of big sister, sensing incoming problems and helping out if she gets asked.

And that was the current problem – Seven would help her if Rem made the first move. Without any initiative from Rem she couldn't do anything except wait and watch. She had to face the reality first, sorting out the problems she had before Seven could help her with anything.

Seven scratched the back of her hair as she placed one hand on the wooden door, her head still turned to Rem. But she shook her head then and sighed again, stepping away from the door and sat down on the small porch instead. Thankfully the huge wall behind her and the roof blocked incoming rain, yet not everything, but still enough to keep her from getting drenched.

She pulled her legs up to her chest and placed her chin on her knees, wrapping her arms around her legs to keep her body heat to herself and stared in Rem's direction. Here she had the perfect spot to give her space _and_ still have an eye on her – the uneasiness still lingered, but this position felt way better anyways.

Another breeze must have hit Rem as the girl rubbed over her arms, trying to warm herself up with the friction of the fabric of her uniform. Seven sighed as she didn't stop rubbing and the teetering from her increased, seeming to have bigger problems with the coldness than she thought.

That didn't help with Seven's concern at all.

But her eyes widened as Rem suddenly turned around with her head tucked to the ground and crossed arms in front of her chest, still shivering and without the flame, but quick on her feet to the shag's direction. Only when she reached the stairs she finally looked up and locked eyes with Seven, halting her movements once she set foot on the porch.

"Seven? … Can I sit with you?"

"Yeah sure."

Seven lifted her head and turned to her when Rem stepped beside her and joined her side, mimicking her previous bent legs and wrapped around arms, obviously being affected by the cold rain. Her shivers weren't to miss and even when she rubbed over her legs, the goosebumps didn't vanish.

"Getting too cold, huh?" Seven faced her now when she was silent.

"Heh, yeah."

"Come here." She reached out an arm and pulled her a bit closer, so they both sat shoulder at shoulder together and huddled for warmth. On top of that she waved her hand in front of them and summed fire magic, like Rem did earlier before, and letting it dance on her hand for extra warmth. "Better?"

" ... Thank you."

A little smile played on Rem's face when she appreciated Seven's warmth, now glad that she chose to go back. Though Seven's concern didn't quite vanish, but at least she was sure that the poor girl didn't freeze now that she was close to her.

One problem solved.

Yet even when she sat here, her gaze never left the direction to where Machina vanished. The smile left her and sadness was written over her face now, she exhaled a deep sigh that was visible in the air and pressed her chin on her knees.

And that was exactly where the other problem lied. Since he left Rem wasn't …. like herself anymore. Distant and apart from the others around her, wouldn't speak to anyone or tried to make contact, all the while she looked in this direction – now she was here and still didn't let go of that, her concern about Machina was too big to think about anything else, and Seven could feel this turmoil. Being here out open didn't help Rem at all with face this, constantly being reminded that he was gone.

Seven nudged her when Rem's eyes were half way closed and a yawn slipped through, but it seemed like her shivering got less with each passing minute thanks to the provided heat.

"Rem, are you sure you don't want to go inside?" Seven tilted her head to her and rubbed over her side, "I know you are tired and I'm pretty sure it's way more comfortable inside."

There was a small pause, but Rem put on her smile again she had just a few moments ago and shook her head. "No I want to stay here."

"It's … about Machina, right?" Seven hit right the nerve at the mention of his name and Rem forcefully opened her eyes completely again. "I'm sure he comes back once he calmed down again. He won't leave you behind."

A shade of pink appeared on Rem's cheek and Seven had to bit back a chuckle at that reaction, seeing the hint of a smile on her face – but this time it was not that fake smile she set on like earlier, it was something that truly came from her heart.

Rem lifted her head up from her knees then and rubbed with both hands over her cheeks now as she realized that they grew hot at Seven's remark, trying to hide it with all she had.

"I hope he comes back."

"Well …" Seven grinned and tapped with her finger on Rem's shoulder, "you obviously wouldn't leave him behind, too, as it seems."

"S-Seven!" Now she broke out a heartily chuckle and covered her whole face with both hands, leaning in to Seven and places her head on her shoulder. "Don't … don't say that!"

"Just telling the truth here."

They both ended up in a laughter, Seven was way too amused by Rem's reaction to the topic about her and Machina – and seeing that Rem tried to hide her pink cheeks from her embarrassment and even chuckled at it, Seven's uneasiness slowly faded and her heart felt at ease now.

At least she was smiling again, her worried thoughts weren't current for this brief moment. And that was something at least.

" … Thanks, Seven." Rem's chuckle faded after a while, her more serious features appeared on her face again, yet the smile remained as she stared in the direction she looked the whole night again.

Seven turned her head to her and raised an eyebrow. "Hm? For what?"

"Just, for looking out for me. I … seriously needed that, I think."

"Hey, you're part of Class Zero now, I'm going to look out for you as much as I do for the others." She scratched her head. " … I'm always there if anyone needs help, just come to me and I'll try my best."

She nodded and placed her chin on top of her knees again, biting on her lip as her smile grew to a grin. "Say Seven …"

"Yes?"

"Do _you_ have a special someone out there?"

"W-What?"

"Come on, you know what I mean."

"I – I uh."

Rem's grin was too bright on her face now and Seven was not prepared for that question. Of all the things she thought about, this was definitely not on the list.

Seven turned away from her and tried to avoid the question as much as she could, but Rem did not stop bothering her with it. She knew that eventually she would figured it out if she bored her with questions over questions, but Seven didn't go easy on her.

If that was what Rem made happy right now, then be it. A bit distraction from her thoughts definitely did good to her – even though Seven might need to reveal her secret to her, but that was a good price to pay.

For the sake of the happiness for her classmate. And friend.


	4. Cater and Deuce

Cater dropped her shoulders as she opened the door to the garden behind Classroom 0, filling her lungs deep with the fresh air.

It was rather hot outside and she would have preferred to stay inside with those temperatures, but right now all she wanted was a clear head and some distraction after what she went through – some peace and quiet. And the garden was the perfect spot for that.

She closed the door behind her and stepped in the garden, holding her hand up to her forehead to block out the incoming sun. It was pretty hot indeed, but if she took a spot under a tree it shouldn't be that bad.

The moment she swept her gaze over the garden to pick out the perfect spot, she noticed she wasn't the only one who sought this fresh air at this hot time of the day.

Deuce sat on a bench in the shadow of a tree, flute in her hand and definitely in the middle of playing a song, apparently not aware of the guest she had.

Cater scratched her head before she made her way to the girl – maybe listening to the calm music she was playing would help her calm down from all the stress she had. And maybe a bit company did her good, too.

Though before she could even reach the bench Deuce stopped playing as she noticed the approaching girl, waving to her to invite her for a taking a seat.

"Hey Cater." Deuce said as the girl sat down next to her, hearing her taking a deep breath before she let out a sigh. "... Are you okay?"

"Yeah … Kind of. Actually, no, not really." She dropped her head and gripped the edge of the bench with both hands. "Today was a mess, ugh."

Deuce patted her on her back, tilting her head in a confused manner.

"Uh, what happened?"

"Where do I even start …" She tapped with one finger against the wood of the bench, "Alright, first I overslept and I was too late to hand in my essay for class today."

Deuce formed an "oh" on her mouth.

"And then …" Cater continued, "Queen and Kurasame kind of scolded me for that. Got a detention … and well, my actual training's program got cut short then, because I was late. And of top of that I, uh, might have blown up the arena a … tiny bit? It wasn't really my fault I swear! … I just …"

"Cater …" Deuce continued to pat on her back as Cater's rambling died down then, "Bad days happen, you know that. Don't let it get in your head too much, yes? It doesn't sound like you."

"That's why I'm here. Trying to get away with it, somehow." She scratched her head, "And uh, sorry for interrupting you."

"Hey it's okay. You see, I was finished with that song anyways, so no worries."

"So …" Cater leaned back in her seat, now relieved that she found Deuce here in the garden. Having this off her chest definitely made her feel better than before. "What did you play?"

"Oh I was playing for the people on the cemetery. Moglin always says we should pay our duties to the dead and since I'm free … I thought I do that now."

"I see …" Cater sighed.

Moglin always took care that some of hir class visit the cemetery from time to time and honor the people who have fallen for Rubrum, even though no one could remember them. It was hard to actually feel something for them without any memories, so not many cadets visited them – but now Deuce was here and played them a song from a bit further away. A gentle gesture that was definitely appreciated.

" … Would you like to continue playing?" She nudged Deuce after a while. "For … the dead of course."

"Hm sure I can play something for you." Deuce chuckled before she set her flute on her mouth again, ready to play the next song.

Cater smiled as the first notes sounded, swinging her legs back and forth after she closed her eyes. Listening to this definitely helped with lifting up her mood – the melody was calm and soft like a breeze of air, fitting for the environment they were currently in. Even the birds chirped with her, singing in union.

Now she was really glad she came here, because nothing else would have been a better conclusion to this messed up day she had today.


	5. Eight (and King)

The sun was burning, the afternoon sun shone right onto him. A single drop of sweat formed on his forehead and he tried hard not to be distracted by it.

His eyes never left the focus on the three soldiers around him. Carefully he watched them coming closer, one on each side and a Supersoldier right in front of him. He knew that once they were in a certain range of him they would slash out with their weapons – it always was that way, and it didn't surprise him, really.

Those holograms in the arena were predictable as ever, yet harsh and strong non or less – to underestimate them would be fatal, and Eight really didn't want to lose now. Not after he spent half of the day here. _Two more waves_ , he thought, two more waves and it's enough then.

His arms were safely hold in front of his chest, his fists clenched. With light and loose feet he teetered from one foot to another, his breath matching the flowing rhythm of his movement.

The soldiers on his side were close to him already, soon they would strike out, but unfortunately the one right in front to him started to reach for his weapon – soon he would begin to shoot and Eight had to get out of his shooting range fast if he didn't want to get shot.

It took him a split second to decide what to do.

He ducked low the moment the first bullets left the gun of the soldier, grazing his head almost only by one hair distance – grazing, but not hitting and that's what counted. He settled his hands on the ground and with one push his legs sailed in the air, whirling in a circle around and knocked the two incoming enemies from his sides down – one single kick in their faces and their knees already bucked.

His attack was not done yet, there was still that annoying Supersoldier left that still continued to shoot at him, though thankfully not able to actually hit him – Eight was too fast on his toes and reacted quick with a dash to the side to avoid the incoming bullets, his hands once again on the ground. Yet this time all his energy went into a rush forward.

With a single dash the Supersoldier got knocked down and Eight was once again victorious.

He had no time to celebrate though, the next wave of enemies would start immediately. With a quick wave of his hand he gathered the phantoma of the soldiers, the bodies dissolving in the air after their souls merged with Eight.

The air grew hotter and Eight had problems to make out the spawn points of the next wave – his sight was flickering of the intense heat and fused the colors, but there was no way he would give up now. Not when he was so close to his goal for today.

In a single motion he swept away the sweat on his forehead before it got too distracting, immediately going back to his stance from before. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his senses now focused on the noises around him.

It didn't take him long to make out where they were coming from.

With swift dodges he avoided the single bullets that were sent his way, using those dodge rolls to come closer to them. A bullet from the Supersoldier behind him grazed him at his shoulder, but it was nowhere near to actually hit him.

Now the two regular soldiers stood right in front of him and only then Eight opened his eyes again, bundling his energy to perform a small jump that ended up with his fists punched against the ground, fire emerging from the spot – and with two dead enemies lying on the ground.

Briefly he twitched his lips at the sight of the two bodies in front of him.

Only one to go.

He couldn't stand on the spot for long, the bullets of the remaining enemy sailing through the air and tried to hailed down on him, but pierced the ground around him instead. He turned around to see how close he already was and at the sight of what he saw, his eyes widened.

The Supersoldier struck out to him already, his weapon high in the air and ready to strike. Eight could only rely on his instincts and took a step backwards, dodging the attack before he would punch with fist right in his face.

But it never came that way.

Instead a loud gun shot sounded in the distance and suddenly the enemy fell face first on the ground right in front of Eight's feet.

Eight only stared at the body in front of him and knitted his eyebrows, holding his hand to his forehead as he followed the line of the phantoma. It ended in the hand of a person in the close distance.

"King?" Eight called out to him as he walked to him at the edge of the arena. He didn't even realized he was here. "What was that about?"

"I saved you." He grinned, tucking away his pistol to his holster again.

Eight tilted his head and placed his hands on his hips, exhaling deeply at the tall boy's grin. "You know that I could have dodged that, right? … Anyways, why are you here?"

"Mother wants to see you. You are way overdue your training's time."

"Wait, I am?" Eight instantly straightened his pose and turned his head to clock over the gateway. It was ten past four. "Oh. … Thanks then."

With a rush he went away, dust flying past King as the boy vanished from his sight.

King didn't want to tell him that he had been watching him the past thirty minutes, but he couldn't deny that watching Eight fight was pleasant to the eye, so he kind of forgot the time.

But in any way, now that he was here and fulfilled his task on telling Eight that Mother wanted to see him, he had free time. And with an empty arena right in front of him he knew exactly what to do with it.

A little bit of training before dinner later definitely didn't hurt.


End file.
